Politics of South Africa

Politics of South Africa
Polity typeUnitary parliamentary republic with an executive presidency
ConstitutionConstitution of South Africa
Legislative branch
NameParliament
Meeting placeHouses of Parliament, Cape Town
Upper house
NameNational Council of Provinces
Presiding officerRefilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces
AppointerProvincial legislatures
Lower house
NameNational Assembly
Presiding officerThoko Didiza, Speaker of the National Assembly
AppointerNational Assembly
Executive branch
Head of state and government
TitlePresident
CurrentlyCyril Ramaphosa
AppointerNational Assembly
Cabinet
NameCabinet of South Africa
Current cabinetThird Cabinet of Cyril Ramaphosa
LeaderPresident
Deputy leaderDeputy President
AppointerPresident
Ministries26
Judicial branch
NameJudiciary of South Africa
Constitutional Court
Chief judgeMandisa Maya
Supreme Court of Appeal
Chief judgeXola Mpetse

The Republic of South Africa is a unitary parliamentary democratic republic. The President of South Africa serves both as head of state and as head of government. The President is elected by the National Assembly (the lower house of the South African Parliament) and must retain the confidence of the Assembly in order to remain in office. South Africans also elect provincial legislatures which govern each of the country's nine provinces.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has dominated South Africa's politics. The ANC is the ruling party in the national legislature, as well as in most provinces. The ANC received 40.18% of the vote during the 2024 general election. The main challenger to the ANC's rule is the Democratic Alliance (DA), led by John Steenhuisen, which received 21.81% of the vote in the 2024 election. Other major political parties represented in Parliament includes uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK Party), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The formerly dominant New National Party (NNP), which both introduced and ended apartheid through its predecessor the National Party (NP), disbanded in 2005 to merge with the ANC.

Nelson Mandela served as president from 1994 to 1999 and his successors were Thabo Mbeki (1999−2008), Kgalema Motlanthe (2008−2009) and Jacob Zuma (2009−2018). Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa after his resignation in February 2018. The 2024 general election was held on 29 May 2024, with the ANC losing its majority in the national parliament for the first time in South Africa's democratic history, though it still remained the largest political party.[1] Despite losing the majority in 2024, the ANC managed to retain power with a coalition government.[2]

South Africa is a democracy. Universal suffrage was granted in 1994 with the end of apartheid. Since then, elections have been open and competitive, and the lives of South Africans have improved across multiple metrics.[3] However, it has faced challenges as a multi-racial, young democracy.[3] The Economist Intelligence Unit rated South Africa a "flawed democracy" in 2022.[4][needs update]

  1. ^ "2024 ELECTIONS | eNCA Project ANC Will Take 45% Of National Vote". eNCA. 30 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  2. ^ Savage, Rachel (14 June 2024). "South Africa's ANC strikes coalition deal with free-market DA". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b Lieberman, Evan (2022). Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid. Princeton University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv244ssrw. ISBN 978-0-691-20300-3. JSTOR j.ctv244ssrw.
  4. ^ Democracy Index 2023: Age of Conflict (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit (Report). 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.